Things have been pretty quiet here at Business Evolutionist the last couple of weeks... well, outside of yesterday's Business Blog Book Tour. I've found a bunch of great new blogs with fantastic content and I've gotten a couple of great book recommendations (which means you can expect a new summary or two in the coming weeks)...
I've been consuming more than producing... and I must have spent a good hour thinking about the balance between the two last night. Actually, the thoughts were more than just about producing blog content. The thoughts were centered around why I read what I read? Why I post what I post? Why causes me to post at all? It was very introspective.
As I mentioned, I've found a number of new blogs (I'll be updating my links soon) and the collective intelligence of the people blogging is nothing short of staggering. Typically, when I get interested in a new subject, the first thing I do is go to Amazon and look for a book on the subject... now the first thing I do is look for a blog on the subject. I've got about a hundred blogs in my RSS aggregator now.
The other thing that I was thinking about was the social aspect of blogging. Some of the new blogs I've discovered are a result of trackbacks and comments. I've always lived life with the idea that "he who knows only his side... knows little." So for me, this foray into "public thinking" (putting my thoughts online) has reaped benefits as I've had the chance to discuss ideas and learn from other people (far, far smarter than I). I exchanged a couple of really nice emails with Mark (A.K.A. fouroboro) and in one of them I mentioned that this email was the result of the power of a networked conversation.
Lot's of people have written how blogging has or will change things (like the publishing industry), but I'm not sure we'll ever be able to measure the true impact of blogging - from either a social perspective or an innovation perspective. Think about how many people you now converse with as a result of your blog? Think about what new ideas you've implemented or might implement as a result of the information you picked up from a blog - would that have been possible if blogs didn't exist?
I don't have any grand intentions for this blog and I don't have a particular audience in mind... this is really just a place for me to post items of interest and ask questions. I've begun some new relationships, changed my thinking on a thing or two, and been exposed to other thoughts and ideas - all very worthwhile.
It’s amazing what can be read on a web log. I am reading posts by lawyers, professors and business professionals. A year ago I didn’t have access to these people let alone be able to read their thoughts.
Could this be a beginning of a more informed society – I don’t know but I would like to think so.
The inspiration for my latest site design (not up yet) was inspired by something I got off of www.csszengarden.com. Which to find I followed a link from a weblog (I think it was www.ensight.org, can’t remember).
Posted by: Chuck Conway | March 19, 2004 at 10:28 AM